This week’s column starts with a mea culpa. A couple of people have said they wish I’d put the phone number along with the website as a contact for a recent story about the Amorcito bakery. The owner told me customers could contact her on Facebook and Instagram and I didn’t ask if she was okay with publishing her phone number. It’s a home business, so obviously, I wouldn’t publish the phone number without her permission, but I should have asked. Believe it or not, I’m still kind of new at this, not quite to the year mark. So, to those of you who don’t use Facebook but would have liked to order cookies, I’m sorry. (P.S. I asked and it’s 479-439-2033. See your Jan. 9 Creston News Advertiser for the story.)
The truth is I don’t really use the phone that much except for work. I text, but I avoid calling people if I can. And I definitely prefer to look up information on the computer rather than ask someone so it never occurred to me that you all might want to call.
I talked to my mother on the phone the other day, but it was really to show my aunt how to use her new-fangled Alexa gadget to make a phone call. They call each other. Years ago, they talked on the phone every night while watching Wheel of Fortune. It was a way for them to keep up with each other and for my mom to check in on my aunt, who was having health problems, without making a big deal of it. A voice on the other end of the line lets you hear how someone is doing in a way that a text can’t do.
Don’t get me wrong. I love new technology. I just pushed a button to warm up my living room from its morning chill. I didn’t have to chop any wood or gather kindling — I didn’t have to go outside at all.
I turn my lights on and off by talking to a little round device. I play games on my tablet and even read books on it — although I still think there’s a special feeling of holding a book in your hands, there’s also that thing on a tablet where you can change the size of the letters at will.
I’m glad I don’t have to feed and water my transportation every day, not to mention clean up after it — if you had been at city council last night, you would know how much cleaning up that entails.
I can’t imagine doing my job if we still had to place each letter on a press individually or even just go back to cutting and pasting each story. With a click of a button or two, we can make the story fit exactly where we want it now. But I still prefer reading my news as opposed to watching it. I realize some prefer video so I’m all for choice. Bring on the new and keep the old ways.
Funnily enough, now that text is trying to replace voice, writing a letter has nearly disappeared. And a hand-written one is unheard of.
You may not believe this, but I was halfway through writing this column (on a computer, of course) when I wondered if there was a handwriting holiday. I considered making one up if necessary, but I didn’t need to. It’s tomorrow!
Jan. 23 is National Handwriting Day. Let’s all celebrate it by writing somebody a letter just for the fun of it. Add some stickers, use a cool pen, find some pretty paper and practice your best penmanship. The recipient will love it. Maybe they’ll even write you back.
Connect with somebody — through the mail, on the phone, on a computer if you must. It matters.
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Let me know what matters to you at rsmith@crestonnews.com, 641-782-2141 ext. 6433, or write me a letter in c/o Creston News Advertiser, 503 W. Adams St., Creston, Iowa 50801.